De-reddened NIR spectrum of SN 2016adj taken at +32 days compared with a +15 days spectrum of the type Ic SN 2007gr (Valenti et al. 2008), a +16 days spectrum of the type IIb SN 2011dh (Ergon et al. 2014), and the SYNOW synthetic spectrum computed for C I (Millard et al. 1999). Prevalent C I lines, as for example the strong feature around 11 000 Å, are present in the NIR spectrum of SN 2016adj. As in the optical, no traces of He I are identified in the longer wavelength spectrum of SN 2016adj. This is contrary to the He I features in the spectrum of SN 2011dh, particularly the prevalent P Cygni feature at 20 581 Å.